Minister of State for External Affairs (Vishwamitra)
Minister of State for External Affairs विदेश राज्यमंत्री | |
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Ministry of External Affairs | |
Style | The Right Honourable |
Member of | |
Reports to | Prime Minister Minister of External Affairs |
Nominator | Prime Minister |
Appointer | The Rashtradhyaksh on the recommendation of the Prime Minister |
Term length | At His Illustrious and Royal Majesty's pleasure |
Formation | 10 July 2016; 8 years, 1 month ago |
First holder | Bhargab Jyoti Medhi |
The Minister of State for External Affairs (Hindi: विदेश राज्यमंत्री), commonly shortened as State Minister for External Affairs is the junior minister in the External Affairs Ministry who is also a member of the union council of ministers. The minister of state is responsible to carry out specialised duties as directed to them from time to time by the Prime Minister or the cabinet minister within the ministerial jurisdiction. The first Minister of State for External Affairs was Bhargab Jyoti Medhi who was appointed by prime minister Varuna Sriraya on 2 October 2016, a few months after the creation of the ministry in July 2016. The current ministers of state are Ezekiel Ensor who has been in office since 6 June 2024, and Benjamin Levinson since 4 August 2024.
The Minister of State for External Affairs often assists their senior ministerial colleague, the Minister of External Affairs and also carries out duties and heads various departments within the ministry. The minister of state for external affairs has occasionally simultaneously served as the minister of state in the Ministry of International Relations.
History and records
The position of the Minister of State for External Affairs was established following the creation of the Ministry of External Affairs on 10 July 2016. Since the first ever occupant of the ministry, Saikat Seal held the rank as a minister of state with independent charge, no minister of state was appointed thereupon. On 2 October 2016, Bhargab Jyoti Medhi was appointed as the first minister of state for external affairs. The current minister of state is Ezekiel Ensor who has been in office since 6 June 2024.
Nineteen individuals have served as the minister of state for external affairs of whom two - Tyler Mullins and Rafe Burfield continued to serve as the minister of state despite their promotion as a cabinet minister. Rafe Burfield also holds the record of being the only ever former minister of state to be appointed as cabinet minister of external affairs and that too immediately after relinquishing the duties as minister of state. Only one former minister of state for external affairs went on to become the prime minister - Farhaz Hazarika, who served as minister of state for external affairs between 31 January and 1 March 2021.
Roles and duties
The Minister of State for External Affairs is responsible for assisting the Minister for External Affairs in the discharge of their functions and duties over the ministry and the various departments, including:
- Department of International Relations
- Department of Diplomatic Relations
- Department of Overseas Territories
- Department of Foreign Trade
- Diplomatic corps
List of ministers
No. | Portrait | Minister (Birth-Death) Constituency |
Term of office | Political party | Ministry | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
From | To | Period | ||||||||
Minister of State for External Affairs | ||||||||||
1 | ![]() |
Bhargab Jyoti Medhi (born 2001) |
2 October 2016 |
30 December 2016 |
89 days | Secular Party | Varuna III | |||
30 December 2016 |
12 April 2017 |
Independent Party | Varuna IV | |||||||
2 | ![]() |
Manoj Chetry (born 2005) |
12 April 2017 |
5 July 2017 |
84 days | Klarissa III | ||||
3 | ![]() |
Tusharjit Deka (born 2006) |
5 July 2017 |
7 September 2017 |
64 days | Secular Party | Tanishkaa II | |||
4 | ![]() |
Sampriti Paul (born 2004) |
7 September 2017 |
25 December 2017 |
195 days | |||||
25 December 2017 |
21 March 2018 |
Varuna V | ||||||||
Parliamentary Secretary to the Secretary of State | ||||||||||
5 | ![]() |
Harlong Terang (born 2005) |
14 May 2018 |
12 October 2018 |
151 days | Congress | Tanishkaa III | |||
Interim Varuna II | ||||||||||
Minister of State for External Affairs | ||||||||||
6 | ![]() |
Jemina Hazarika (born 2006) MP for Basistha Rural |
7 January 2019 |
13 March 2019 |
65 days | Congress | Tanishkaa IV | |||
(4) | ![]() |
Sampriti Paul (born 2004) |
17 March 2019 |
17 August 2019 |
153 days | Congress | Tanishkaa V | |||
7 | ![]() |
Pallavi Rai (born 2005) |
18 August 2019 |
2 September 2019 |
15 days | |||||
8 | ![]() |
Arpan Deka (born 2008) |
2 September 2019 |
29 September 2019 |
27 days | |||||
(3) | ![]() |
Tusharjit Deka (born 2006) |
29 September 2019 |
15 October 2019 |
16 days | |||||
(6) | ![]() |
Jemina Hazarika (born 2006) |
15 October 2019 |
16 November 2019 |
32 days | |||||
(8) | ![]() |
Arpan Deka (born 2008) |
16 November 2019 |
24 November 2019 |
8 days | |||||
9 | ![]() |
Abhirup Patranabis (born 2012) |
26 November 2019 |
9 December 2019 |
13 days | |||||
(3) | ![]() |
Tusharjit Deka (born 2006) |
9 December 2019 |
3 March 2020 |
85 days | |||||
(6) | ![]() |
Jemina Hazarika (born 2006) MP for Basistha Rural |
22 March 2020 |
29 March 2020 |
7 days | Congress | Tanishkaa VI | |||
(3) | ![]() |
Tusharjit Deka (born 2006) MP for Devkotanagar II |
29 March 2020 |
30 April 2020 |
32 days | |||||
(7) | ![]() |
Pallavi Rai (born 2005) MP for Beltola National Constituency |
13 May 2020 |
8 June 2020 |
26 days | Congress | Tanishkaa VII | |||
Minister of State for Foreign Affairs | ||||||||||
10 | ![]() |
Kumari Tanvi Sridasa (born 2013) MP for Bhaskarnagar |
8 June 2020 |
17 June 2020 |
9 days | Congress | Anoushkaa II | |||
Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and International Relations | ||||||||||
11 | ![]() |
Rajia Hazarika (born 2008) MP for Basistha Urban |
17 June 2020 |
28 January 2021 |
225 days | Congress | Anoushkaa II | |||
– | ![]() |
Farhaz Hazarika (born 2003) Caretaker Minister |
31 January 2021 |
1 March 2021 |
29 days | Congress | Snagoveanu I (Caretaker) | |||
Minister of State for Foreign Affairs | ||||||||||
12 | ![]() |
Ezri Ambriz (born 2007) MP for Basistha Central |
6 March 2021 |
10 July 2021 |
126 days | Congress | Snagoveanu II | |||
Minister of State for External Affairs | ||||||||||
(12) | ![]() |
Ezri Ambriz (born 2007) MP for Basistha Central |
10 July 2021 |
6 August 2021 |
27 days | Congress | Snagoveanu II | |||
13 | ![]() |
Jayden Dagsa Duke of Karad[a] (born 2008) MP for Dadara |
6 August 2021 |
9 September 2021 |
74 days | |||||
11 September 2021 |
21 October 2021 |
Hazarika I | ||||||||
14 | ![]() |
Tyler Mullins Count of Mullins (born 1998) MP for Bhetapara |
22 November 2021 |
17 February 2022[b] |
87 days | Congress | Hazarika II | |||
15 | ![]() |
Rey Jr. Mancio (born 2007) MP for Boragaon |
9 February 2022 |
17 March 2022 |
36 days | |||||
16 | ![]() |
Rafe Hargreaves (born 2005) MP for Chandril |
12 May 2022 |
16 July 2022[c] |
65 days | Independent | Hazarika III | |||
17 | ![]() |
Thomas Jacobs (born 2008) MP for Brikshasthana |
16 July 2022 |
30 July 2022 |
14 days | |||||
18 | ![]() |
Arsal Abbas Mirza Baron Mirza of Lahore (born 2006) Unelected |
31 July 2022 |
11 November 2022 |
103 days | |||||
19 | ![]() |
Johannes Mattias Toome (born 2006) MP for Dhirenpara |
12 November 2022 |
18 March 2023 |
126 days | Congress | Hazarika IV | |||
20 | ![]() |
Devin Purcell Baron Purcell (born 2006) MP for Boragaon |
18 March 2023 |
14 May 2023 |
57 days | Independent | ||||
21 | ![]() |
Suryadeva Kapei Baron Kapei (born 2008) MP for Maligaon |
14 May 2023 |
12 August 2023 |
90 days | Congress | ||||
(19) | ![]() |
Johannes Mattias Toome (born 2006) MP for Dhirenpara |
12 August 2023 |
9 October 2023 |
58 days | |||||
22 | ![]() |
Ezekiel Ensor (born 2007) MP for Rajagriha |
13 October 2023 |
29 March 2024 |
168 days | Hazarika V | ||||
Deputy Minister for External Affairs | ||||||||||
(16) | ![]() |
Rafe Hargreaves (born 2005) |
4 May 2024 |
12 May 2024 |
8 days | Congress | Klarissa IV | |||
Minister of International Relations | ||||||||||
(16) | ![]() |
Rafe Hargreaves (born 2005) (Deputy Minister, until 31 May 2024 MoS, I/C, from 31 May 2024) |
12 May 2024 |
6 June 2024 |
25 days | Congress | Klarissa IV | |||
Minister of State for External Affairs | ||||||||||
23 | ![]() |
Benjamin Levinson (born 2009) (MoS, Bilateral Relations until 15 June 2024) |
6 June 2024 |
3 July 2024 |
27 days | Independent | Klarissa IV | |||
(23) | ![]() |
Ezekiel Ensor, Sri Nawab Haridran (born 2007) (MoS, International Development until 15 June 2024) |
6 June 2024 |
Incumbent | 86 days | Congress | ||||
(23) | ![]() |
Benjamin Levinson (born 2009) |
4 August 2024 |
Incumbent | 27 days | Independent |
- ↑ Count of Maybunga until 16 August 2021
- ↑ Tyler Mullins was promoted as a cabinet minister on 9 February 2022, however he continued his duties as minister of state for external affairs until 17 February 2022.
- ↑ Rafe Burfield was promoted as a cabinet minister on 11 June 2022, however he continued his duties as minister of state for external affairs until his own appointed as cabinet minister for external affairs on 16 July 2022.